The Great Taste
We had a great time at the Great Taste Of the Midwest this year. The weather was perfect, sunny and cool. This year the 6000 tickets sold out in five hours, and the people who got in were all big beer fans. I even heard some stories of people buying tickets on ebay for 80$ (originally 25$).
Fifty lucky people here at the brewery came up on our chartered bus. But Dan and I had to be there ahead of time to set everything up. We dropped off our gear on friday night, and made a tour of Madison, going to the Great Dane, the Capital Biergarten, and Angelica. The beers at all three locations were pretty outstanding, as usual. My favorite of the evening was the Crop Circle Wheat at the Dane. It just had to most incredible silky mouthfeel, and wonderful banana flavor, truly a treat.
The next morning we got set up, and starting the “Brewers Tasting” from 11-1pm. This is the time that us brewers get to run around and try each others beers before the festival explodes when they let the crowd in. I tried as many belgian white beers as I could, and I did not think any of them were quite as intense as ours. Some of them were downright thin. I also looked for beers like our Schild Brau, and really did not find any. The closest thing was the Elliot Ness from Great Lakes Brewing, but it was more sweet than ours.
This year all three of us owners at Millstream made up to the fest. Chris and I signed up Teresa for the brewers dunk tank, but she refused to do it! Chris and I have both done the dunk tank in previous years, so maybe next year I’ll have to do it again next year. I think it is really fun!
The Taste always seems to go by too fast. Dan and I were stuck with cleanup as everyone else took the bus back to Iowa. After we got that done, we went out to dinner to JT Whitneys with my friend Eric Watson, a fellow siebel class mate. He makes some awesome beer at the Main Street Brewery in Evansville, IN. The food and service at JT Whitneys was good, and the beers were very respectable ales, though at that point my sense of taste was pretty much overwhelmed.
Next year I would not be surprised if the moved the festival north of Madison to a larger park. It can’t be any bigger at the current park, and having the tickets sell out so fast is a sign that its popularity has exploded. While I love Olin-Turville Park with its scenic view of downtown Madison, I would rather have more people attend. Everyone who attends gets a education in the incredible variety in the world of beer. We need to educate as many people as we can if we want this industry to grow.
Chris and Dan getting ready to serve some beer
Chris and I checking some cool labels from another brewery